Baseball preview: King’s Way Christian fields its first varsity baseball team

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Greg Bernash, so., Prairie; Colin Biggs, jr., Mountain View; Taylor Easterly, jr., Columbia River; Cody Hawken, sr., Union; Trevor Huddleston, sr., Woodland; Preston Jones, jr., Mountain View; McKinley Lefore, sr., Jace McKinney, sr., Columbia River; Camas; Matt Olstead, sr., Union; Avery Schmidt, jr., Skyview; Aaron Shoup, sr., Woodland; Michael Spellacy, so., Battle Ground; David Wallum, sr., Hudson’s Bay.

THINGS TO WATCH

To play non-league or to not play non-league, that is the question: The Class 4A Greater St. Helens League opted to play each other three times in league play. That means 18 games for each team, leaving just two non-league games to make up the regular season. The 3A GSHL, meanwhile, will play each other three teams, but in a four-team league, that means only nine league games and 11 non-league games. That will make for some fun scheduling.

Moving on up: Woodland reached the Class 1A state championship game last year. This year, the Beavers are up a classification and playing in the 2A Greater St. Helens League. Does that make them underdogs? Not really. At least one 2A GSHL coach thinks Woodland and Mark Morris are the favorites.

Postseason reminder: Just like the other traditional team sports, the 4A GSHL does not play in a bi-district tournament this year. The top two teams after district will advance to directly to state, which is called regionals in baseball. … The 4A and 3A state championships will be at Gesa Stadium in Pasco. The 2A and 1A state championships will be at County Stadium in Yakima.

Liam Nabors plays on a tournament baseball team, but until this year had never been part of a school team.

Up until this year, in fact, his school did not have a team.

“I know King’s Way is a pretty small school. I wasn’t expecting a baseball team. But when I heard the news, it was just awesome,” said Nabors, a sophomore. “Joy.”

King’s Way Christian is playing ball this spring.

A Class B program in enrollment numbers, King’s Way opts up to play in Class 1A as a member of the Trico League in sports such as basketball and volleyball. Now, baseball has joined in the mix.

Instead of their baseball players heading to other schools or tournament teams, the Knights are keeping their baseball players right at home. Oh, and they have invited some friends from Seton Catholic, too.

Thomas Martin is a senior at Seton Catholic. He was part of the Skyview’s baseball program last year because Seton Catholic does not have a baseball team. But when King’s Way made the decision to have a baseball program, King’s Way officials asked Seton students to join the Knights.

“You get to take ownership of a program,” Martin said. “That’s pretty special.”

Martin prefers the atmosphere at a private school.

“At a public school, you felt like an outsider,” Martin said. “Here, it was so welcoming. They make you feel like family.”

There are 22 baseball players in the program. Seven, including Martin, played for other programs last year: Josiah Tully and Josh Tully, twin brothers and both seniors, were with Skyview. Luke Oja, a junior, and Karter Graves, a sophomore, were Ridgefield Spudders. Garrett Wellman, a sophomore from Seton Catholic, was at Battle Ground. And Dylan Roberts, a junior, played with Fort Vancouver.

They are all Knights now. And they’re off to a 3-0 start.

“It’s really exciting to play on the same team together and play for our school,” Nabors said.

“I sure enjoy these guys. They’re nice young men,” said King’s Way Christian baseball coach and athletic director Ty Singleton. “I’m pleased with how they’re becoming a team.”

There are no restrictions on this first-year program in terms of postseason eligibility. The new 11-man football program at King’s Way, for example, played a partial junior varsity schedule. Baseball is a varsity program.

Still, that does not mean there are expectations of a playoff run.

“I want to see us play beautiful baseball,” Singleton said.

For him, that means becoming a true team, with players who are there for God and for each other. If the team’s values come from God, he said, the players will truly be able to enjoy the game, regardless of the performance on the field.

That is another reason why King’s Way and Seton students joined together on this team. At a private school, they can talk openly about their faith during practices and at games.

For Martin, he has one season to enjoy high school baseball at a private school. He wants to build a proper foundation “so others people can come and have fun at baseball like I do.”

Nabors, the sophomore, is part of the present and the future of King’s Way Christian baseball.

“I’m just excited to get the season off right,” Nabors said. “Get a solid first season under our belts and get the program started in the right direction.”